Questions tagged [lyrics]
Writing that's intended to accompany music
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Can I use a song lyric as the title of my theatre production?
I'm starting a theatre company and one of the ideas I have thought of for a production is an ongoing series of monologue/scratch evenings. I want to have the premise of each night to latch onto the ...
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What is this called? Using one word that has a one meaning but then is given new meaning in a subsequent clause or sentence
This is done in songs and I'm sure it's done in poetry too.
For example, in the song Gray and Blue by Jaymay, she sings, "I'm with another boy (he's asleep, I'm wide awake) / And he tried to win ...
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Where can I get a feedback for my lyrics from native english speaker?
I really love to write lyrics for my music in English, I like how it sounds but this language isn't my first one and obviously I can't write natural texts, sometimes I even make common mistakes. I ...
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Definition of "bridge," "verse", "chorus" and "outro" [closed]
It is common for lyrics to be divided into "bridge," "verse," "chorus" and "outro". Are these all written in the same way? If not, how do they tend to be ...
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How to handle narrative perspective in a musical text
I am writing the text of a significant musical work that will be sung by a chorus. I will also be composing the music, but this question is specific to the lyrics that the chorus will sing. Note that ...
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Are there words that allows singers greater flexibility when it comes to syllable count?
Sometimes, you can stretch the number of syllable in a lyrics when sung by repeating some syllables or sounds like in this example:
The color of the ski-i-i-i-ies
Is blue like your eye-e-e-e-es
I ...
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Is there a situation where you shouldn't omit the article (a, the) in lyrics?
Is there a situation where you shouldn't omit the article (a, the) in lyrics? Sometimes, you have 1 syllable you want to remove on a line, so you remove a or the, but sometimes doing so modifies the ...
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When writing rap music, is it important to use the same number of syllables for every line in the lyrics?
When writing rap music, is it important to use the same number of syllables for every line in the lyrics? Some rap music has some really good flow, but I am not sure what's causing it. Is it largely ...
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Telling and not showing in songs
I often see phrases like these in songs:
I show you all my love.
I love you more than anyone.
My heart clings to you.
All these sentences tell instead of showing, but a lot of songs do that. Is ...
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Why do I lose focus and direction in my songwriting?
Today while writing my song, every line seemed to fight me. It seemed to wander without direction. I don't always have this problem but would like to figure how to avoid writing songs that wind up ...
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Best way to tell your readers when to pause during a song
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for ...
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How do you write lyrics for a duet? [duplicate]
How do you write lyrics for a duet? How do you write lyrics for a song sang by two persons with some lines belonging to only one person?
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Changing pronoun while referring to the same person
He sneaked into the wilderness
His feet close to his hand
Ready to pounce
Ready to kill
He was like a beast
I am like a lion
King of the jungle
I am like a lion
King of the jungle
A wild beast ...
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What do you call the technique of using idioms to form new idioms to allude to something?
On English Language Learners there was a question about the lyrics "Wake me up inside" regarding the grammatical correctness and meaning of the words. I am wondering if there is a name for ...
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Lyrics with "lalalalala" or "nanananana"? [closed]
Lyrics with "lalalalala" or "nanananana"? Is there any lyrics of a popular song where the "lalalalala" is written? I noticed a lot of lyrics, don't have them, but the ...
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Aside using alliteration in a rap lyrics, what else can you do to improve the flow of a song?
Aside using alliteration in a rap lyrics, what else can you do to improve the flow of a song?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
Alliteration can improve the flow of a rap lyrics, what other ...
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When you write lyrics, is it better to make sure that every line has the same number of syllables?
When you write lyrics, is it better to make sure that every line has the same number of syllables? Let's say you have 5 lines in a "verse", is it better to make sure that every line has 4-5 ...
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In song lyrics, how do you convey that a line or parts of a line is spoken at the same time?
In song lyrics, how do you convey that a line or parts of a line is spoken at the same time?
Example:
You are a fool, yeah that's right.
"You are a fool" is spoken by a different person. &...
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How do you write a script for a music clip?
How do you write a script for a music clip? I am wondering because you need to sync the lyrics with the descriptions of the scenes, so I am wondering how it's done by the industry. Is there any ...
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What are the various patterns and differences that distinguish ordinary lyrics to rap lyrics?
What are the various patterns and differences that distinguish ordinary lyrics to rap lyrics?
I heard in rap music, swear words are often used, there's a lot more rhymes and we often "cut" ...
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How do you find lyrics with the parts labelled?
https://devilmaycry.fandom.com/wiki/Bury_the_Light
Here, we see that the parts are labelled as Verse, Chorus or Bridge. Is there a website with a bunch of lyrics with the parts correctly labelled so I ...
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Why do all of my lyrics have 3/4 feeling
I write song lyrics for fun and I always add simple music so the song can be performed.
About 40% of my songs are in 3/4 (6/8) signature which is kind of unusual in the big picture.
It's just that ...
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What's the technique of putting ellipsis to show hesitation in a lyrics called?
You saw me the day before
It all ended, and yet you've
left me without words
I wish...
That you could let it go
Let the past go, be free
Free like the wind
Free like ...
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Is it okay to put an inversion in a song lyrics?
In the dark alley of my youth,
light, it shone from the cloud-ladden sky.
I've been listening to the chirping in the trees.
Lately, I felt a bit more free.
I am wondering if this is ...
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Difference between Indian and English lyricism?
Suppose we sing or rap about dark themes (similar to modern American music from 1970-present day) in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, or Malayalam over Indian classical music fused with Rock, Pop or Hip Hop. ...
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Use of punctuation in song lyrics?
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/The_Edge_of_Dawn_(Seasons_of_Warfare)
The following is the short version of "The Edge of Dawn".
Reach for my hand,
I'll soar away
Into the dawn
Oh,...
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How to display a duet in lyrics?
I wonder if someone can tell me whether there is a convention when laying out a lyric to show different parts (or even a chorus). In my novel, there are a number of poems and lyrics. They are set in ...
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Translating a song from other non-alphabet languages and counting syllables?
You know when writing translations of other songs, you need to know the number of syllables on each line, but the question is how do I do that? Are there good tools on the Internet that does this? I ...
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Iambs or Trochees in songwriting
According to this website, English speakers prefer to hear iambs rather than trochees. We naturally bias our readings toward iambs.
However, in my reading about lyric writing/prosody, it seems that ...
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How to transition from poetry to song-writing?
I've written poetry since I was nine, and I would say I'm pretty good at it. I also really like music, and I can create simple melodies that I hum to myself. But whenever I try to write a song, my ...
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Elongated vowel sounds
When we speak sometimes we draw out certain sounds for emphasis. We also see this technique in song, for both emphasis as well as expanding the meter to make the words fit a certain rhythm.
One way ...
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Is it important to consider tone, melody, and musical form while writing a song?
Be it Mowgli and balu singing Bare Necessities or Enrique singing Somebody's Me, each song (or poem) has their way of being sung. Were such songs written after selection of musical note, tone, and ...
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How do we tell someone how to sing a lyric?
People usually use a musical sheet to tell how a song should be sung, but when you read a lyric you have no idea how a song should be sung without having the musical sheet in front of you, so is there ...
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How should we write a passage where a character sings?
I am wondering how to do this in a novel. Do you write the song (lyrics) in its entirety in one single spurt, or do you spurt a verse at a time interspersed with descriptions of the surroundings/...
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Translating non-English lyrics to English
I am wondering what are some guidelines when translating the lyrics of a song to another language, because lyrics depend a lot on musicality (rhymes, syllables), it's very hard to maintain the same ...
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Writing a well rounded lyrics with incredible musicality and incredible poetry [closed]
Most songs use very simple language that resonate within their readers. They use short sentences that are simple and have a strong emotional impact, because they are short and thus lyrical (easy to ...
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What language shall they sing in?
I'm writing a middle-grade novel in English. I have time-traveling kids from 1995 America who go to Ancient Egypt to join the Exodus. None of the kids speak anything but English (aside from a few ...
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What are some of the most common structures for lyrics?
More specifically, what are the repeating parts usually in popular songs, and where do we put them normally? I want to write the lyrics for a popular song, but I am not sure how to structure them.
...
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Song quote for an 'in memoriam'
I would like to quote a few lines of a lyric from St. Vincent's song "New York", for an 'in memoriam' I want to put in a newspaper on the anniversary day of my friend's death. Do I need to get ...
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What are some techniques used to increase the melodicality of a lyric?
Is there any trick, rule, principle for increasing the melodicality of a lyric?
I want to write a lyric, but I don't really have a melody in mind and wish to just write a lyric that can fit a lot of ...
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Difference between Writing Song-Lyrics and Writing Poetry
Not sure how to jazz this question up other than to say that I've tried putting my poems to music and found it to be somewhat challenging.
Question is then: what's the difference between the ...
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How do you cite song lyrics parenthetically in MLA?
I am in the process of finishing up a research paper for school that I am writing on the debate over whether or not you should listen to an album from start to finish. I am specifically doing so with ...
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Can I legally use these song lyrics as book/chapter names?
This topic has been discussed--but please advise me on this particular test case.
The title of the fiction novel is "Shorter of Breath" -- a reference to a lyric in Pink Floyd's "Time."
Chapter ...
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Copyright Lyrics to Songs
I have written lyrics to which I would like to have music put to. What's the safest and most advantageous way to copyright the lyrics?
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Is it legal to use a song lyric on the back of a wine label if we give attribution to the creator? [closed]
I would like to use a quote from a song for my new wine label. We would use quotation marks and give credit to the artist. Is that ok?
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Is writing a novel about a song considered plagiarism?
I am interested in writing a novel about a song from a band. It will have the exact same plot but different names of the characters. Is this considered plagiarism? The idea of the song and my book are ...
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What's the correct way to quote song lyrics?
Do you attribute it to whomever wrote the lyrics, or to who actually sings/speaks them? Or it is simpler/more correct to just use the name of the band/group?
What about a cover song? Can you quote ...
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There is too much beauty in this picture I can persevere [closed]
I don't know if this is the right place to ask these kind of questions. I am not a native English speaker but I am not at the beginner level in terms grammar and vocabulary either. I make mistakes in ...
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Writing song lyrics [closed]
I find writing song lyrics really difficult -- maintaining a regular rhythm, making it rhyme and writing something that makes sense all at the same time.
Does anyone have any tips for how to write ...
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Quoting lyrics in a book of film criticism
I'm writing a book of film criticism, in which I refer to lyrics from the soundtrack as a way to empathise the narrative.
Am I required to obtain permission for use of these lyrics? Or, because this ...
